An automobile exhaust systems comprise 3 main components, being the exhaust pipe, muffler and tail pipe. In rear wheel drive vehicles of conventional design the muffler usually locates forwardly of the rear axle of the vehicle, and the tail pipe connects to the muffler, arches over the rear axle and extends towards the rear extremity of the vehicle in an elongated spout portion. Some 80 percent of the total market of domestic automobiles and vans currently comprises so called "popular models" which individually enjoy sales significantly greater than those of other models. Of this 80%, or about 65% of the total, require no fewer than about 250 different tail pipe configurations to be stocked for servicing, necessarily resulting in relatively high costs or inventory, floor space and time for stocking and retrieval purposes.
The tail pipes are generally of some 5-7 ft (2.2-2.5 m) in length and pose significant difficulty for distribution, particularly by common carriers, where the length may be restricted to about 4-5 ft. Whilst the length of the tail pipes has not seriously inconvenienced trade at the professional installer level, that is to say in muffler shops, it has impeded distribution through mail-order, self-serve and do it yourself outlets. There is moreover a further impediment to this portion of the trade, due to the difficulty in fitting tail pipes of normal length to an automotive vehicle, this generally necessitating the vehicle being hoisted to provide a ground clearance between the ground and frame of the vehicle appreciably greater than can be obtained using normal bumper jacks or ramps.